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The United Nations authorized two new peacekeeping missions in 2011, the UN Mission in South Sudan and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei. Yet, in 2011, overall UN peacekeeping deployments experienced their first contraction since 2003.

However, because this decline was offset by increases in NATO and AU deployments, overall peacekeeping deployments continued to grow in 2011, though at a significantly reduced pace compared with previous years.

“Rapidly changing environments tested the ability of peacekeeping missions to
respond to violence,” the study concluded. “The deepening global financial crisis continues to impact peacekeeping, and there is now greater pressure to limit new deployments and draw down large-scale peacekeeping
operations.”